There are major gaps in our knowledge about the visual health of adults in the UK. These include the distribution of visual function and the frequency of different levels of sight impairment – from the level that might impact on driving or other activities of daily living up to blindness. Very little is known about the biological, social and lifestyle factors that might influence the development of visual dysfunction and the risk of sight impairment. Equally we know little about the general and mental health, social circumstance and ethnic diversity of adults with impaired sight in the UK today. We propose to address these gaps in knowledge. This work is being lead by Phillippa Cumberland and Jugnoo Rahi at the UCL Institute of Child Health/Great Ormond Street. Mrs Cumberland and Prof Rahi are members of a multi-disciplinary, cross-theme vision research grouping, supported by the Ulverscroft Foundation (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/silva/uvrg). Their research is supported by a grant from The National Eye Research Centre.
The measurements of vision in UK Biobank were made using a bespoke computerised testing system, conforming to BS 4274-1:2003. As this is a new method of making measurements of visual function, a validation study is underway, lead by Ruth Hogg at Queens University Belfast.
